How To Video: iPhone panorama tips and tricks

How To Video: iPhone panorama tips and tricks

When Apple updated the camera app in iOS 6, it included a fun panoramic photo feature. Sharon Vaknin shows you how to get started and offers some techniques for some creative results.

-Apple didn??t invent panoramic photography, but if you upgraded to iOS 6 and you have an iPhone 4S or an iPhone 5, you might have a new found interest in panoramic photos.
Let??s start with the basics and then I??ll show you a few tricks.
Okay.
To start taking your panorama photo, you??ll launch the camera app as usual.
But then, hit Options and select Panorama.
Now, you??ll see that by default, your iPhone will take you from left to right.
But, if you want to do a panorama from right to left, just hit the arrow.
It will all go from left to right, though.
Now, before you started taking your panorama, you??ll want to set the exposure just like you would in any other photo.
Obviously, you can??t set it for the whole scene, but you can set the general lighting.
So, to start, hit the shutter button.
And now, your task is to keep the white arrow along that line.
So, try and go nice and slow.
But, if you go too fast or get off track, your iPhone will tell you.
You can do a 240-degree panoramic photo, but you can really stop at anytime by either hitting done or just moving your moving your phone back at here.
That??s it.
So, unless you have a really steady hand, it??s going to be hard to keep that arrow straight.
But, that being said, you can create some funky photos by intentionally twisting your camera
around to create a sort of distorted panoramic photo.
And, if you put your phone in landscape mode, you can create what??s called a vertorama.
Just follow the same method of tapping the arrow to change directions.
Here is my favorite.
Okay, I gave Chris my phone and now, he??s going to start taking a panoramic photo, I??ll post.
And, as soon as I-- I??m out of frame,
I??ll run around him and I??ll post in time to show up in another frame.
We did it twice but you can do this as many times as you want in a long panoramic photo.
But, in the end, you get a fun photo that??s definitely worth sharing.
And, speaking of sharing, there are a number of ways to show off your panoramic photos: message, email, photo stream.
But, if you want to give the viewer a different experience,
check out the tourist app which utilizes the iPhone??s gyroscope for viewing these wide photos.
If you have any cool panorama photos to share or any tips I missed, hit me up on Twitter and check out more how-to??s at howto.cnet.com.
For CNET, I??m Sharon Vaknin.